Mining-machine



(No 'Mode-1.) 4 sheetssheen 1. J. HBNWOOD. MINING MAGHINE. l

No. 527,791. Patented Oct. 23,1894.4

(No Modem. 4 sheets-sheen 2.

J. HBNWooD.

MINING MACHINE. No. 527,791. Patented 001:. 23, 1894.

n A *n i g s Q, 5N

N a I* Izjul` gTom/Heluoood/ (No masi.) '4 sheets-.sheen s.

J. HENWooD.

MINING MACHINE.

No. 527,791. Patented oet. 2s, 1894.

(No Model.) f wutesheer 4. J. 'HENWOOD MININGY MACHINE. No. 527,791.Patented Oct. 23,1894.

nu: owls PETERS oo, pHoro-urac., wAsmNaTon. o. c.

UNITED STATES.'

PryrnlwrV OFFICE.

JOHN HENVOOD, vOF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA. i

MINING-MACHINE. j

SPECFICATION fofmingpart of Letters Patent No. 527,791, dated October23, 1894.

Application filed April 5, 1892. Serial No. 1 -27,880. (No model.)

lo ail whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HENWooD, a citizen of thelUnited States,residing at Portsmouth, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented a new and useful Mining-Machine, of which the following isa specication.

My invention relates to improvements in mining-machines; the objects inview being to provide a machine designed preferably to be operated byhand, though capable of being .operated by compressed air, electricityor other power; to construct the machine in a cheap and siinple manner,to adapt it to be readily disconnected. and moved from point to point,whereby it will serve to mine for several gangs of workmen; and toprovide an automatic feed.

Other objects and advantages of theinvention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawingsz-Figure 1 is a plan View of a mining machineembodying my invention, the same being my preferred form and adapted tobe operated by hand. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 isa transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig.4 is a horizontalsection through the rear end of the framework. Fig. 5 is a longitudinalsection of one of the solid links of the cutting-chain. Fig. 6 is a sideelevation of the belt-tightening pulley. Fig. 7 is a detail inperspective of one of the shifting eccentrics, hereinafter described.Fig. 8 is a plan View, similar to Fig- 1, the machine being adapted foroperation by compressed air. Fig. 9 is a transverse section of Fig. 8.4

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

In practicing my invention, I employ an oblong movable frame, the samebeing formed of channel iron, of U-shape in cross-section. This framecomprises opposite longitudinal sides 1 and front and rear end-pieces 2and 3 respectively. The extremities of the sides 1 are chamfered orinclined, as at 4, and they fit in mortses 5, formed at the inner edgesnear the ends of the cross-pieces Q-all as best shown in Figs. 1 and 8.Each of the sidebars 1 is provided directly in rear of its chamfered orinclined end with a loop or These keepers and catches are.

when so connected, by reason of the joints thusformed, the frame isrigid, and capable of'withstandiug the strain to which it is subjected.

Vertically-opposite bearings are formed in the horizontal flanges of theframe, at each of the four corners thereof, the two front bearings beingoccupi/ed by short vertical shafts 8 andj9, and the two rear pairs ofbearings being occupied by short vertical shafts 10. Between the anges,each of the aforesaid shafts 8, 9and 10 is provided with asprocketpulley 1l, best shown in Fig. 4; and each ofk said pulleys isprovided with three teeth,and so proportioned with relation to a chain,which will be hereinafter described, that only every other link of saidchain is engaged by the said teeth. The series of pulleys 11, thuslocated, is surrounded by a cutter-chain,

which lies and travels within the channel-iron of which the frame isconstructed. This chain I have designated as 12; and it consists of aseries of alternately. arranged hollow and solid links 13 and 14respectively, the former being those that engage the teeth of thesprocket-wheels 11. The hollow links are simply opposite straps, whichare pivoted t by transverse bolts 15, best shown in Fig. 5, to theopposite countersunk ends of the solid links 14. Each solid link 14 isprovided with a transverse inclined socket 16, designed for thereception of a cutter or tooth 17, the outer end of which is beveled. Asbest shown in Fig. 2, the sockets 16 are arranged at differentdispositions, whereby the teeth 17 are staggered with relationo eachother, (see also Fig. 3) so that as the cutter-chain revolves a channelis cut, somewhat wider or at least sufficiently wide to permit of thepas.- sage therein of the frame of the mining-ma-V chine. The outerextremity of each cutter 17 is beveled', as shown, to facilitate itscut- IOO ting. At one side of the socket 16 the solid link is providedwith an Iangular cavity 18,

and through that wall thereof adjacent to the socketa perforation 19 isformed and 5 threaded. Through this perforation a binding-bolt'20 ispassed, the inner en'd'ofthe bolt impinging upon the cutter 17, andhence serving to admit the same and project it any desired distance fromthe chain.

It will be observed that inasmuch.y as the frame is designed to bedisconnected, it is also necessary that the chain 12 should have one ofits links loose, or removable,and this it will be understood is thecase. The chain 15 is also slack, to facilitate its disconnection .i andremoval, and I therefore provide a suitable chain-tightener, to ymake itjmove positively and prevent any slipping. Such tightener maybe of anydesired construction,` :o but the one herein described and v'shown 'is.,moredesirable. I now refer to Figs. 1, 4 and 6, wherein the beltY orychain-tightener will be found to be best illustrated. Arpivotbolt 21 ispassed 'through the opposite a'n'ges 2 5 of the rear cross-bar 3 of themachine, near one end of the same; and the said bolt also jpassesthrough the terminals 22 of a hori- Vzontal `Ushaped swinging bail orframe 23. This frame is provided between its ends 3o with oppositebearings 24, and 'a pin 25 is located therein. Upon this pin, betweenthe terminals 22, there is mounted loosely for ro-` tation asprocket-wheel v26, similar to the sprockets 11, in that it also carriesthree teeth, and so proportioned as to engagel with only every otherVtooth of the chain. lOpposite the free end of the 'frame or bail '22, asecond shaft 27 is mounted in bearings formed in the Iiang'es of therear b'ar 3, and the upper end of this shaft, as seen in Fig. l,project'sabove the bar 3 where it is provided with a square or angularwrench-receiving portion 28. Within the bar or between the iangesthereof a ratchet-wheel 29 is mounted rigidly f upon the shaft, and thesame is designed to be engaged by a pawl 30, pivoted as at 3l to the bar3, and having its `free end normally pressed into engagement with theteeth of the ratchet wheel 29, by a light spring 32. 5o An arm 33 hasits eye 34 fixed upon the shaft 27, and the said arm'lies against therear face of the U-shaped frame or bail 22. s It will be obvious that byapplying a wrench to the up"- per angular end of the shaft 27, androtating said shaft, the arm 33 can be swung outwardly or to therear'of'the machine, and will thus actuate in a similar manner the frame23, pressing/thev sprocket-pulley against the inner side of the chainand stretching the 6c same.

The side-bars 1 rest between the inner faces of upper and lower plates35 and 36,respect ively, which constitute a platform for supporting theoperating mechanism hereinafter 6 5 described and between these platesthe frame is fed, or in other words, moved.' From one corner of theplatform, in this instance the Shaft'.

right-hand corner, there 'extends forwardly and in line with the framean anchoringbar 37, the front end of which isdirectly in rearof 7o arotatable cutting-gear 38, which is mounted upon the shaft 9. Thiscutting-gear forms an opening, in the coal, into which the bar 37 ispassed, and thus the machine as a whole is anchored against lateralmovement while at 75 work. l

Near the rear end ot' the platform a pair of bearing-standards 4Q isbolted, and extend parallel to each other. These standards have pairs ofou ter bearings 4l, andinner bearings 8o 42. A shaft 43, which might betermed the main shaft, is journaled in the two inner bearings, and alarge pulley or master-wheel 44 is mounted on the shaftbetween the said'standards. At its forward end a gear-wheel 45 is 85 'mounted on theshaft, and beyond the gear'a beveled pinion 46 is also 'mounted on the Avertical shaft 47 'Stands directly7 in front of the pinion, the samebeing journaled vin a standard 48, rising froinuthe platform. 9o Aboveandbelow the pinion 46, and mounted for l'ooseindependent rotation uponth'e's'haft 47, are gears 49 and 50. Above the gear 49 a ratchet-wheel51 is made rigid thereto, and below the gear 50 a similar ratchet-wheel52 95 is made rigid vwith th'e gear 50, the teeth of the vtwo wheelsbeing oppositely-di'sposed.

53 designates a hand-lever, and the same 'is provided at its inner endwith avyok'e 54, terminating in bearing-eyes 55, which 4`are roc.journaled 'upon the shaft 47, above and below the ratchet-wheels. Thisyoke has its t branches 'provided with spring-pawls 56, one for eachwheel, and consequently the pawl's are located at opposite sides of 'theyoke. f ro 5 inasmuch as the two pinions or gears 49 and `50 are 'inengagement with the pinion 46, and are alternately operated in the samedirection, with relation to said pinion, it will be obvious that by anoscillation of the lever 53, a t Io continuous rotary motion lwill beimparted to the pinion 46, its main shaft 43, and gear 45.

At one side ofthe gear 45, in a bearingstandard 57 a short shaft 58 isjournaled, and the same at its rear end carries a gear-wheel :15 59,which is engaged and driven by the gear 45. This countershatt 58 isprovided at its front end with a pinion 60. y

designates a pair of vertical standards, mounted on the platform infront of the gears I zo thus described,`and their feet or bases havelongitudinal slots 71,through which bolts 72 pass into the platform,whereby the standards are capable of being moved or reciprocated uponthe platform. These standards 125 have jou'rnaled therein a transverseshaft 73, the ends of Awhich extend beyond the bearingstandards 70, andare provided with oppo- 'sitely-disposed worm-wheels 74, the purpose ofwhich will be hereinafter described. Be- 13o tween its bearing-standards70 ahub or sleevel is splined upon the shaft, and from the h ub 0rsleeve two pinions 76 and 77 extend. The hub or sleeve is provided witha groove 78,

cal shafts 81 is journaled.

vwith which engages the inner end of a shifting-lever 79, which ispivoted upon a post80. By vibrating this lever either of the gears 76 or77 maybe thrown into engagement with the pinion 60; but in the actofengaging one f said gears with the pinion the remaining gear is therebydisengaged.

In the upper and lower plates and 36 of the platform adjacent to theinner edges of the side-bars 1 of the frame, a pair of verti- Theseshafts, between the plates, have mounted thereon gearwheels 82, and theteeth of said gear-wheels engage teeth 83, formed on the inner edge ofeach of the side-bars 1. Above the platform these standards 81 arejournaled in posts 81, and above the posts worm-gears 85 are fixed tothe shafts 81.- These worm-gears 85 engage with the worm-gears 74 of theshaft 73, andit will be seen that by the rotations of the gears 74, thegears 82 operating in the teeth S3 will serve to feed the frame forwardor backward. In standards 86 located in front of the standards 70, andbetween the same, a transverse shaft 87, best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, isjournaled. This shaft is adapted to befrocked by a handle 88, and beyondits bearing-standards carries eccentrically-mounted disks 89. (See Fig.7.) These disks enter between the bifurcated ends 90 of the standards70, and pins 91 extend inwardly from the bifurcations and engage curvedslots 92, formed in the opposite faces of the disks 89. By rocking theshaft 87 the standards 70 may be reciprocated, and thus the worm-gears74 withdrawn from engagement with the wormgears 85.

In the outer bearings 4l, heretofore described, a shaft 93 is journaled,the rear end of the shaft being journaled in a bearingstandard 94,rising from the rear end of the framework, and at one corner thereof.This shaft extends nearly the entire length of the frame, and in rear ofits bearing 94C is preferably provided with a fly-wheel 95, and in frontof the same with a beveled gear 96. This gear 96 engages and drives agear 97, which is mounted on the rear shaft 10. Stand- Y ards 98 risefrom the rear bar 3, and a transverse shaft 99 is journaled inthestandards. This shaft receives motion through the medium of a beveledgear 100, from the gear 97. It also conveys motion through the me- ,diumof a beveled gear, 101, located at the opposite end of the shaft 99, toa beveled gear 102.

Thisoompletes the construction of the preferred form of mining machine,and its operation will for the most part be understood from theforegoing description, so that the reiteration of the same will seemunnecessary; and I will therefore simply supplement it as follows:-Themachine being set in position and braced from the roof and operated byhand throughthe medium of the lever 53 which is vibrated, the staggeredcutters will form a groove in the wall of coal, and as the same isformed the frame will `be advanced. After the machine is operated to itsfullest extent, or te a desired extent, it is fed back or withdrawnuntil the platform is at the front end of the frame. This may be readilyaccomplished by shifting the lever 88 so'as to throw the worm-gears 74into engagement with the gears 85, and shifting the lever 79 so `as to'throw the proper gear of the shaft 73 into engagement with the pinion60, and subsequently vibrating the lever 53. Mot1on is conveyed from themain wheel 44 toY a smaller wheel or pulley 103, which is mounted on thelongitudinally-disposed shaft 93, between the outer pair of bearings 41,through the medium of a belt or-other connecting-device 101. As bestshown in Fig. 3,K the pulley 103 is splined, as at 105, upon the shaft93, and consequently while it rotates with the shaft yet is capable ofsliding thereon.

After one gang of workmen has used the v machine, the same is unshipped,or disconnected in the manner heretofore described, and while the coalthus mined is being removed by the said gang, the machineis passed on tothe next gang and so on, andthus several gangs may be employed andserved by the same machine. In Figs. 8 and 9 I have illustrated amodified construction, or rather a machine operated by compressed air,instead of by hand. In these figures the same numerals of referenceindicate similar parts, and the only difference is that differentmechanism is employed foroperating the same and for feeding the machine.

In the modified construction, a pair of cylinders 106 is provided withpiston-rods 107, which engage a crank-shaft 108, journaled 1n bearings109. The crank-shaft is provlded atiits center with a worm-gear 110, andbeyond one of its bearings with a gear-wheel 111. In bearing-standards112 the longitudi- IOO nal shaft 93 is journaled and a gear-wheel 113 issplined upon the shaft in the same manner as was the pulley or wheel103. It will readily be seen that the movements of the piston-rods 107will transfer motion to the vShaft 93.

A vertical shaft 1111 is mounted in bearings formed in a bridge 115, andin the upper plate 35 of the platform. Below the lower plate 35 achain-wheel 116 is secured to the shaft, and at opposite sides of thesame and out of alignment therewith, short vertical shafts 117 arelocatedy between vthe plates 35 and 36, and carry pulleys 118. Afeed-chain 119 is secured at its ends to the two cross-bars 2 and 3, andbetween its ends pass around the pulleys 118 and chain-wheel 116, all asshown in Figs. 8 and 9. The shaft 114: is provided above the bridge witha worm-wheel120, the hub of which is toothed, as shown at 121. This gearis loose upon the shaft, but may be locked thereon by a clutch 122,which is splined upon the shaft at 123.

end of the shaft a wheel 124 is located. From At the upper thecrank-shaft motion is imparted to the worm 110, and from thence tothegear 120, and its shaft 114, so that the machine is automatically fed bythe teeth of the Wheel 116 engaging with the chain 119. YVhen it isdesired to return the frame, it is simply necessary to raise the clutch122 from engagement with the toothed hub of the gear 120,- so that thelatter is loose upon the shaft, and then rotate the shaft through themedium of the hand-wheel 124.

Having described my invention, what claim is- 1. In aYY mining machine,in combination with the platform and the cutting mechanism, theknock-down sliding frame mounted on the platform -comprising oppositeside and end bars detachably secured together, substantially as shownand described.

2. The mining-machine frame, comprising the opposite side-bars beveledat their ends, and in rear of the same provided with keepers, combinedwith the end-bars having angular sockets or mortises to receive the endsof the side-bars, and spring-catches extending fromrthe end-bars andadapted to engage the keepers, substantially as specified.

3. `In a mining'emachine, the combination with the oblong frame havingthe surrounding channel, the loose sprocket-wheels in the channel and atthe corners of the frame, the surrounding cutter-chain and means foropcratin g the same, of the pivot-bolt located between the two rearsprockets and in the channel in rear of the chain,the U -shaped swingingbail having its terminals pivotedjto the bolt, and provided withintermediate bearings, a sprocket-wheel having its journals mounted inthe bearings between the terminals and adapted to engage the chain, arocking-bolt beyond the bail having its upper end extended above theframe and squaredm to receive a wrench, an arm extending from therocking-bolt and bearing against the inner side of the bail, aratchet=whee1 mounted on the bolt, and a spring-pressed pawl pivoted atone side of the ratchet-wheel and engaging an holding the same,substantially as speci- 4. In a mining-machine, the combination with therectangular frame, the sprockets at the corners of the same, the shafts.for the spreek ets and the cutting-chain passing around the sprockets,and gears mounted upon the two rear sprocket-shafts, of a platform uponwhichl the frame is mounted, a motor operated on the platform, bearingslocated on the platform, a splined shaft mounted in thebearings, a wheelmounted on the shaft,

vthe gears 82 at the fmeans forcomm'unicating motion-from the motor tothe` wheel, a beveled ge'arat one end of the shaft, engaging yone of thegears of the sprocket-shaft, and a short transverse shaft between thetwo sprocket-shafts and provided at its ends with beveled gears forengaging one with the gear of the longitudinal shaft and the other withthe gear of the remaining sprocket-shaft, substantially as specified.

5. In a mining-machine, the combination with the rectangular frame, thecutting-chain passing around the same, the platform for supporting theframe, of the shaft 43 and its bearings, the bevel-gear 46 mounted onthe end of the shaft, the vertical shaft47 in front of the shaft, theupper lower and loose gears 49 and 50 having the ratchet-hubs 51 and 52,

the lever 53, terminating at its inner end in 'a yoke 54 having eyesjournaled on the shaft 47, the pawls 56 arranged at opposite sides ofthe yoke and engaging the ratehets, the bearings 41, the shaft mountedin the bearings an'd adapted to slide therein, the Wheel mounted on theshaft, connections between the same and shaft 43, and motion conveyingdevices between the said sliding shaft and chain, substantially asspeciied.

6. In a mining machine, the combination with the platform, the oblongframe having its inner longitudinal edges toothed, the chain surroundingthe frame and provided with cutters,of the motorhavin ga gear-wheel,thestandard 57, the shaft 58 mounted therein and having the gear 59 andbeveled pinion 60, the former engaging with the gear of the motor, thestandards slotted as at71, the bolts passed through the slots into theplatform,the shaft 73 journaled on the standard, the worms 74 on theends of the shaft, the sleeve 75 on the shaft provided with the groove78, the opposite beveled gears 76 and 75 upon the sleeve and at oppositesides of the beveled gear 60, the shifting-lever 79, the bearings 86,the shaft 87 mounted therein, the eccentrics 89 at the end of the shaft,loosely connected with the standards 70, the opposite vertical shafts81, lower Yends thereof, en-

IOC

gaging with the teeth of the frame and the worms 85 at the upper ends ofthe shaft and engaged and operated by the worms 74 before mentioned,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HENWOD. Witnesses:

E. THOMPSON, JOHN D. WENGER.

